Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Edge Higher Amid Venezuela Geopolitical Jolt: Why CVX, XOM, ASML, TMSC, COIN Are On Traders' Radar Today

• Investors are kicking off the first full trading week of 2026 amid geopolitical tensions.
•  Energy stocks, defense names, and crypto-linked equities are drawing high retail attention.

U.S. stock futures were trading slightly higher early Monday as investors assessed the developments, with the capture of Venezuelan President Maduro sparking fresh geopolitical risk. 

As of 2:45 a.m. ET on Monday, Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.3%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%, and the Dow futures were flat, while Russell 2000 futures fell 0.1%.

On Stocktwits, however, retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, moved to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’. While sentiment toward the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index, has remained ‘bullish’, amid normal message volumes.

Post the US military action over the weekend, President Donald Trump said in a statement that the US will "run" Venezuela to secure energy interests, which has sent ripples through currency and commodity markets – gold and silver prices have risen, while oil has reversed its earlier losses. 

Trending Stocks To Watch

Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Shell (SHEL), and TotalEnergies (TTE): Energy majors are seeing high retail attention as traders speculate on the US's new role in "running" Venezuela and tapping its oil reserves. GE Vernova (GEV) is also gaining traction.

L3Harris (LHX): Reports over the weekend suggest the company is nearing a deal to sell a 60% stake in a portfolio of space and propulsion businesses to AE Industrial Partners. 

ASML (ASML): Bernstein has upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $1,528, up from $935, citing the upcoming DRAM "super cycle." 

MSTR (MicroStrategy), COIN (Coinbase), and CLSK (CleanSpark) are gaining traction as Bitcoin trades above $93K.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC): The world’s largest contract chipmaker will be in the spotlight after receiving a 35% price target upgrade from Goldman Sachs Group over the weekend to NT$2,330, citing expectations of another year of solid growth.

Other noteworthy tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing were Nio, Navitas Semiconductor, Palantir, PSKY, BBAI, Schlumberger (SLB), and Micron (MU). 

Other Catalysts To Watch

Investors will also be watching the CES tech show in Las Vegas, which runs from Tuesday through Friday this week. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang is set to take the stage at 4 pm today.

On the economic front, traders are looking ahead to the release of the ISM Manufacturing PMI at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com

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